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The Merchant – A Short Story based on TES V: Skyrim

I remember my first trip to a town in Skyrim, the long journey through Morrowind had taken its toll on my boots after the tiresome journeys up and down the many mountains that were placed between my homeland and the vast arctic wasteland of Skyrim. The first town I reached after entering the region was Windhelm, known in our history books as one of the longest standing Holds in all of Tamriel. I’d heard many rumours of the civil war that had plagued this land but only really saw the full extent of things as I saw the Stormcloak leader Ulfric being escorted into his palace, the rebel guards were everywhere and I could spot the distaste of certain customers who browsed my extensive range of wares.

I didn’t get much business in Windhelm and as I had a lot of magical robes stored up, I decided to take a trip to the popular magical town of Winterhold, home of the famous college where many apprentice wizards go to train and study in whichever department of the magical arts that they see fit. It only took roughly a day to walk from Windhelm to Winterhold but as I approached the city, I spotted an ambush up ahead. I dove into a nearby bush and kept deadly still, hoping not to alert the attackers which I spotted. They were clearly bandits, they had set up a little trap for any wandering adventurer but unluckily for them, I was not just any adventurer. With my father’s bow drawn, I took a deep breath and took out one of the bandits. In a blind panic, the others fled from their camp and ran off into the Nordic wilderness which laid in wait.

I scavenged what I could from the bandit camp: a couple of arrows, some mead and a few spell tomes were the best things I found, and that’s saying something. I proceeded to enter the city and immediately headed to the inn, where I was surprised to see a large commotion surrounding the fireplace in the center of the room. “Well what are we supposed to do”, one of the redguards exclaimed, “Karlem has disappeared, Bloated-Man’s Hollow is no place for such an inexperienced adventurer”. I was about to raise my voice but then remembered that the adventurer in me was long-gone now and that it would be purely trivial for me to get involved. I skulked about in the shadowy parts of the inn, going from table to table selling goods. I made roughly 200 gold from that one inn, my biggest haul in months. It was getting late and I was not too eager to journey on through the night so I rented a room for the evening and slept through the night.

I woke up early and fully rested with the full intention of heading onto Dawnstar after visiting the College of Winterhold. I left the inn, paying for my stay (a mere 10 gold) and walked up the daunting steps towards the College. What happened next was too much for any man to explain… a sight simply too evil and too powerful to be remembered…

~Fin (Part 1?)~

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